I'll Be Your Strength
by Sunset Whispers
Summary: Narcissa finds a friend and more in James when he comes to her defence. Narcissa/James. Slight AU. Oneshot. COMPLETE!


**Hello everyone, this is my first Narcissa/James oneshot which I have written as part of the GGE 2017 for Samantha (aka HP Slash Luv). I hope you enjoy this fic; it is slightly AU due to Narcissa and James being the same age. Thank you to MissingMommy for betaing this. I do not own anything in regards to Harry Potter; the rights belong to J.K. Rowling. Little warning: slight use of swear words. All I have left to say is sit back, relax and enjoy reading.**

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James Potter had ditched Sirius and Remus, determined to finish his Transfiguration essay on the advantages and disadvantages of Human Transfiguration which was due that Friday. This being his sixth year at Hogwarts he wanted to continue to get good grades so that he could become an Auror once he finished his time at the school.

Finding a quiet corner in the library he started working. After an hour of vigorous yet well worded writing, he put his quill down; making sure the parchment had no ink spots on it. He flexed his hand as it was aching from the strain of writing so much. His peace and quiet was short lived when he heard a pained cry in an alcove to his right. Getting up, he walked over to find Lucius Malfoy looming over Narcissa who was sat down, one hand covering her increasingly reddening cheek while her other was being held in a tight grip by the blonde haired wizard.

"Narcissa, is everything alright here?" James asked, his hazel, brown eyes meeting her dark sapphire, blue ones that were full of fear.

"She is perfectly fine, Potter, you will do well to go back to your desk and mind your own business," Lucius sneered, his grey eyes trained on his girlfriend, warning her not to speak.

"I wasn't asking you, Malfoy." Ignoring him, he looked at Narcissa and repeated the question even though he knew full well that she was anything but okay.

"Lucius, just go please. We're done here," Narcissa said with all the strength she could muster in her voice. Lucius however would not budge; keeping hold of her arm in a vice like grip that she knew would be bruised. She felt like crying but wouldn't cry in front of him; he didn't deserve to hold that power over her. She had thought he was different but he was just like all the other Slytherin Purebloods she knew - cold, calculating and controlling.

"You heard her, leave." James said, yanking Lucius' hand free of Narcissa's arm before stepping between them, his arms folded against his chest, his eyes deadly serious.

"You shouldn't threaten me, you know who my family are and what we are capable of," Lucius said, venomously.

"I'm not scared of you, Lucius. Now piss off!"

As a last attempt, the blonde haired wizard tried to push James out of the way to get to Narcissa, but it was a mistake. James punched him square in the face, his fist connecting with Lucius' nose, the cartilage splintering while blood ran down his face and onto his crisp white shirt beneath his robes, staining it.

"You haven't heard the last of this, Potter." Lucius snarled before turning on his heel and walking away, his robe billowing behind him.

Once they were alone, James touched Narcissa's cheek gently. "Why did that prat hit you? He has no right!"

"Actually, he has every right. We are arranged to be married after we finish Hogwarts. Now, if you don't mind, I have to go. You've already made the situation worse," Narcissa said, pulling away from him and standing up to leave.

"Sirius said you were rather upset over the summer but you wouldn't tell him why. You have a choice Izzie. Don't marry him; you're no one's property."

"And what? Be disowned, like Sirius was. Blasted off the family tree because I won't conform to the family tradition?" she said, shocked he would ever suggest such a thing yet deep down it was something she had been thinking about.

"All your family care about is their honour and how respected they can be doing whatever they can to remain highly looked up to like the Malfoys. For crying out loud, Izzie, your own sister ran off with a Lestrange and got married making Daddy proud. They joined the Dark Lord's followers, as did Regulus. You and Sirius are the only genuine ones in the Black family and I think you forget that at times. You've always said you want to be a Healer when you leave Hogwarts. Don't let a stupid marriage that will probably make you into a trophy wife to be shown off change that. Follow what your heart is telling you, nothing else."

Narcissa stood frozen to the spot, knowing what James was saying was true.

"I still want to be a Healer," she said quietly, meeting his hazel brown gaze that was full of genuine concern for her. "The only thing is I have nowhere to go if my father disowns me."

"That's where you're wrong. You can come and stay with me at my house over the holidays. My parents won't mind. We'll be your family, Izzie," James said, his hand taking hers in his and giving it a gentle squeeze of reassurance and comfort.

 _Izzie._ She smiled, it was what Sirius had always called her but it coming from James felt more heart-warming than she had ever thought possible. She couldn't stop the tears that fell until they were soaking James' robes as he wrapped her into a hug. She held on as she wept, finally feeling like she belonged and that she could take control of her life, with James, Sirius and their family supporting her. It was all because of the boy with the jet black hair and gentle, hazel brown eyes that was holding her. His hands stroking her white blonde locks softly, it was soothing.

Once she had calmed down she moved slightly so that she could look at him. "Thank you, James."

He smiled. "You're welcome, Izzie," he said. His eyes fell to her lips and he wondered at that moment what she would taste like. What he didn't count on was Narcissa placing her lips on his and closing her eyes at the gentle kiss until she pulled away, blushing.

"Merlin, you're beautiful," James said before kissing her deeply, his tongue darting out to seek entrance. She opened willingly and he swept inside to taste her. She moaned as their tongues danced slowly. He tasted of cinnamon and almonds while to him she tasted of vanilla, so sweet.

When they finally broke apart for air, Narcissa was smiling and blushing.

"I've wanted to kiss you for a long time," he said stroking her hair, while holding her close, looking at her.

"I'm glad you did. What were you doing in the library anyway?" she asked, curious that he wasn't messing about with Sirius and Remus.

"Working on an essay for McGonagall, which reminds me I need to finish it."

"Well, while you work on that, I'm going to write to my father."

James nodded. "You're doing the right thing, Izzie. Once I've finished the essay I'll write to my parents explaining the situation so they know you'll be joining us for Christmas. We can owl them together."

"Thank you, it means a lot to me," she said, smiling.

They sat together, writing in a comfortable silence, the only time they spoke was when Narcissa asked if her letter sounded alright to which James said it did. After they had left the library and posted the letters they made their way down to the Great Hall together, holding hands.

She happily sat at the Gryffindor table on the right of James while to his left was Sirius, and then Remus, opposite them was Peter and then Lily who had her head resting against Severus's shoulder with his arm around her waist.

The moment Sirius saw his cousin and his best friend holding hands and looking cosy he chuckled.

"So how did this happen?" he asked, wriggling his eyebrows mischievously.

Once the gang had heard the full story of what had happened in the library, Sirius agreed with James that Narcissa should stay with them and hugged her. She received hugs from Lily and Remus too; Peter just smiled while Severus squeezed her hand gently in his own way of offering comfort.

"Oh, James, mate, before I forget, if you ever so much as upset my cousin, I'm kicking your arse."

Narcissa giggled at Sirius' protectiveness of her. She felt like part of the Marauders now regardless of how new to the group, she was it just felt like another home. She finally had a group of friends that would have her back and James, a boyfriend who would care and protect her. She was happy.

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 **Until next time everyone,**

 **Sunset Whispers x**


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